Jackie Collins dies aged 77

THE racy novelist Jackie Collins has died of breast cancer at the age of 77 in Los Angeles.

“It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the death of our beautiful, dynamic and one-of-a-kind mother,” a statement released by her family said.

The British-born writer, sister of actress Joan Collins 82, died in Los Angeles after career which had lasted 40 years and saw the sale of around 500 million books across 40 countries.

Her first novel, ‘The World is Full of Married Men,’ was published in 1968 and became an enormous bestseller, but was banned in Australia and branded “disgusting” by romance writer Barbara Cartland.

Her novel ‘Hollywood Wives’ was made into a series by ABC, in America starring Anthony Hopkins and Candice Bergen. Sister Joan appeared naked in the big screen version of her raunchy novel ‘The Stud’ for which she also wrote the screenplay.

In a 2011 interview with Associated Press, commenting on the nature and general content of her novels she said that she “never felt bashful writing about sex .Sex is a driving force in the world so I don’t think it’s unusual that I write about sex. I try to make it erotic, too.”